Balloon for releasably carrying toy parachutes



Feb. 15, 19.55 N -FLQRENCE 2,701,935

BALLooN FOR'RELEASABLY CARRYING TOY PARACHUTES Filed May l, 1955.termined distance abo to thetcliild below.

` to use and'rel'licient in tperation.

This invention relates to toy balloon constructions. It is an object ofthe present invention to provide a toy balloon'construction including' abasket lled with miniaturev parachute jumpers, means being provided forreleasing the jumpers after the balloon has risen a predeve the ound. AIt is still another object o the present invention to n provide a toyballoon .construction of the above type wherein @a transverse shaftextends outwardly from the basket on either side, the ends of-the shaftretaining rings connected to the miniature parachute `jumpers and whichare pushed off by a pair of sleeves slidable along the shaft andactuated by a string extending from the basket Other objects of thewhich. is of simple constructiomhas a minimum number of parts, isinexpensive to manufacture, iseasy For other objectsv an` Afor a betterunderstanding of vthe invention reference niaybe'had to the followingdetailed vdescription taken in connection lwith the accompan ingdrawing, in which:v

ig. 1` is a ragn'ientary pers ctive view of 'a toy balloon constructionembody ngt e features of the present invention shown. partly brokenaway;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of a modicd form of the resentinvention, shown partly in section;

3 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the parts shownin Fig. ZandA Fi 4 is a vertical sectional view of a still further modi- `tied crmofthe resent invention.

Fig. 5 is a sect onal view shown generally on line 5 5 of Fi l of thecompressed gas plug. Re erring more-in detail tothe drawing, in whichsimilar reference characters identify corresponding parts throughout-the several views, there is shown a toy resent invention are to provides ito balloon construct on bearing the above objects 1n t vin n r Usedsito Patent 0 2,701,935 Patented 1955 -ICCv around the spoolV andextending downwitrdlj'itifl the basket 16 through an opening 28 inbottom 17 thereof. The

string 27 is knotted as at 29 above opening 28 for a purpose which willhereinafterbecome clear.

A second string 30 passes. linwardly through side wail 20' through anopening 31, this string being knotted as at 32 preventing its outwarddisplacement' 'through opening and extending downwardly from the basketadjacent string 27. .A loop 33 connected to string'30 receives string 27therethrough, substantially as illustrated.

. A plurality of miniature cardboard figures 34 carrying iiinkiatu silkparachutes 35 are disposed within the as et In operation, with thebottom 17 rctainedvin a closed position by the clip 23 and the basket 16lled with the miniature parachute jumpers 34, 35, the balloon 11 andassociated parts are permitted to risc Ainto the air by i lettingoutstring 30. Meanwhile, the strin 27 at the bottom end thereof issecurely retained by e child below, causingthe former tounwind fromspool 26 and to pass downwardly through" opening 28 until,A the knot 29abuts the portion of` bottom 17 surrounding opening 28,

" springing-the bottom 17 into` the-dotted line position `of Fig. 1.When this happens,; the miniature jumpers 34 Awill drop through the nowopen bottom of basket 16 and parachute slowly to the ground in a noveland pleasing manner.

The ring 14 may preferably be formed of rubber separate from cork 12 andretained vthis rcon by elasticity.

Referring now particularly to Figs. Zand 3,' there is shown a modifiedform ofthe present invention, referred to collectively as` 10', andincluding the balloon 11, the' neck .12 of which is now closed toprevent escape of the internal as by means of string36.

A .bas et 16' is now su portedaround its upper vpoi'- tion by means ofcords 7, the latter being connected in suitable manner to cord rings 38surrounding the bai1oon,'substantially as illustrated.

bailoon construction referred to collectively as 10, and.

carries a circular-.flange 14 rovided aroundits peri hery own- 1 with4openings. therethrou which receive the wai-diy bent ends of-arcuntewires 15, substantiailyas illustrated. f

Four-such wires are provided and support a cai-d- 5 board basket 16,.thelower ends of wires' 15v being upwsrdly bent and iiiisiii?s throughopenings provided near the to" of the si e wal of basket Thepbasket 16iii Vfoirneti from a unitary blank eonsistf ing of a bottom 17 and sidewalls 1B., 19, 20, 21 and 22; the side walls 21 and 22 overlapping andbeing-secured together by ue or other means. The bottom 17 is connectedto t eireinainder of the basket-forming blank along oniyfone edge. thatbeing the bottom edge of side wall 20,'and is foldabie downwardly alongthis edge, :as shown 'in dotted outlinein Fig. l. A clipzs secured tothe outside of side wall 1li near the bottom edge thereof serves toretain 'the bottom 17 in a nor malty closed position. a

A shaft 24 having an integral crank arm 251s rotatably mounted in theside walls 1l and 20, substi'intlally as tio ` tendin receivingtherethrough The side walls of basketl' are grovidcd with o positelydisposed o cnin s' which slida lyreeeive a pa of outwardly cxtn ing seeves 39 and 40. The sleeves 39 and 40 at their inner ends are integraliconnected toI a V shaped member 411 consisting of vert cal end portionsadjacent the sleeves 39 and 40, upwardly and inwardly. extendingportions 43 and a horizontal top ortion 44. The top portion 44 isintegrally formed with ownwardly extending, parallel portions 45provided at their bottom ends with. aligned openings 46, substantiallyas illustratedvin Fig. 3. v

A shaft 47 passes through sleeves 39 and 40 and ex- Fig.

Miniature jumpers 34' provided with paraehutes 35' are supported fromthe outer ends of shaft 47 by means ofrings 48 or loops connected to thetop, central portion of parachutes 35' y means of string 49.

The to portion 44 of member 41 is provided with an opening 0 throughwhich the uppercnd of a spring S1 iiipassed andioopcd, as shown in Fig.2, this spring extending downwardly between the portions 45 and belooped around the shaft 47 at its bottom. end.

i A string 52 is looped'throii orenings 46 as shown iii Fig. 3,.= andpasses downwar'ly t rough an opening in thebottorn of basket 16 to theground below. A U shaped member 5.2i is secured to the bottoni of basket16 at. its intermediate portion, `the upwardly ein 4ends thereof bein4provided with transversely aligne openings 'which .flirt er support theshaft Wintermediate the sleeves-39 and 40, .the bottom intermediateportion of member'v 53 being provided vwith an opening aligned with theopeninghin the bottoni of baskettl and t e string 52.

A'secondstrin'g 54`islsecured at its upper end to a loop 55 extendingdownwardly from and secured in suitable manner to the bottom of basket16', as shown in Fig. 2, and extends downwardly adjacent the strin 52.Loops 56 connected to string 54 receive stringSZ erethrough,substantially as illustrated.

In operation, with the rings 48 retained on the outer ends of shaft 48,the balloon 11 and associated parts are permitted to rise into the airby letting out string 54.

tends2 outwardly therefrom at each end, as shown in Meanwhile, thestring 52 is played out along with string 54. When the balloon hasreached a desired height, the string 52 is pulled back, bringing topportion 44 downward towards shaft 47 against the action of spring 5l,causing sleeves 39 and 40 to move outwardly and push 'rings' 48 oi theendsA of shaft 47. Whenthis happens,

the miniature-jumpers 34' will descend slowly by means orfl prachutes35' in a novel and pleasing manner to the c il It will be noted that inthe above construction, the

string 54 may be eliminated, the string 52 then serving as a mooring andalso to release the parachute jumpers. In this case, the string 52vwould be played out until the balloon had reached 'the desired extendedheight and then merely yanked back to release thechutists.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 4, there isshown a still furthermodified form of the present invention, re-

acts to force sealing engagementof the iange against a l sealing `washer69 that is supported on* the' lower end of the plug by a threadedretaining member 70.

`While various changes may bemade `in the detail construction, it shallbe understood that`such changes shall be within.the.spiritjand scopeofthe-present invention ferred to collectivelyas 10', and ditering' fromthe second form in the construction of the release device.

In this form, a triangular member 57 of vspring metal consisting of ahorizontal top, central portion 58, downwardly-extending, vertical sideportions 59 and downwardly. andoutwardly extending arms '60 terminatingin Ilooped ends 61 is provided.

The tlat top portion 58 of member 57 is disposed on l Y the top ofbasket 16 with the portions 59 passing down wardly through suitableopenings in the top of the basket, substantially as'illustrated in Fig.4 The opposite sides of basket 16" are provided with relatively largeopenings 62, through whichv the looped ends 61 of arms 60 extendoutwardly to support therings 48 in a manner similar to the second form.i

In this ease, the string 52 is loo d around the arms 60 and .passesdownwardly through t e bottom of the basket by. means of a suitableopening therein.

In other respects, this orm of the invention is similar to-that showninFigs. 2 and 3, and like reference nu- Infopei'atiomthe rings 48 beingretained on the looped ends 61 the balloon and associated parts arepermitted to rise into the air by playing out string 54, the string 52being played out a ong with-the string 54. When the balloon has reachedthe desired height, the string 52 is pulled back, moving arms 60downwardly and inwardly and releasing rings 48.V When this happens, thejumpers 34' will float slowly to the ground on parachutes 35' in a noveln nd pleasing manner.

It w il1 again be noted that in the above construction, the string 54may be eliminated, the string 52 then serving both as a mooring andalsov to release the umpers In this case, the string S2 will be playedout unt the balloon as defined bythe appended claim.

A toy `balloon construction comprising a balloon, a container member,means interconnecting said member and said balloon, a plurality ofminiature figures, a miniature parachute carried by each of saidfigures, said gures and parachutes being releasably carried `by saidcontainer member, and means controllable ,from the ground for'releasinsaid iigures andparachutes from said'containerf'mem er after ascensionof said balloon,

said means for Areleasing said figures comprising said .container memberhaving oppositely disposed openings therein, a pair of sleeveslocatedinsaid openings, an inverted V-shaped member lof resilient materialconnecting the inner ends of said sleeves, said `Vshaped member at thetop, centralv portion thereof ixedly carrying a pair of downwardlyextending, parallel strips, 'a shaft within merals identify likepartsthroughout theseveral views.

said sleeves and extending outwardly beyond' the outer ends thereof, aspring connecting. the top of said V- shaped member and the middle ofsaid shaft ,intermediate said strips, a length of string connectedto thebottom of said strips and passingodownwardly to the' ground through anopening in the ttom ofsaid lcontainer memberand rings connected to thetops of said parachutes and located onV the outer ends offsaid shaft.

i References Cited in the tile' of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS208,637 Schwartz Oct, l, 1878 286,718 Linton Oct. 16, 1883 496,854Capazza May 9, 1893 1,329,584 Marinis Feb. 3, 1920 1,804,244 Brady May5, 1931 2,415,818 Frieder et al. Feb. 18, 1947 2,646,019 Chetlan July21. 1953

